dave mcbride

2 of those targets were clear throwaways at the end of regulation because Houston was playnig cover 2 vs Williams.

I swear to God — Al Riveron is not only a dumb guy, but also vindictive and lacking in good judgment (because of the vindictiveness). The fine is really, really stupid and a clear sign that Riveron has some sort of Napoleon complex. He is, quite simply, a dumb person who somehow failed upward into his current position. As for rules and other players, they didn’t fine Clowney on a clear kill shot to the QB. That should end any argument about the the fairness of this.

Watson also took one from Poyer on his first two point conversion attempt. It wasn’t deliberate, but it was head to head.

actually, the best thing that happened to the Bills given the situation was being driven back to their own 40 yard line. If Houston hadn't been so close, they likely would have punted and nailed the Bills much deeper in their own end. Those 36 yards actually functioned as a bad punt by the Texans. Could have been a lot worse if Houston had actually punted on 4th down from midfield.

... on an extremely dirty hit that should have seen Clowney ejected.

Wentz was phenomenal down the stretch this year. He is certainly elite level among the league’s younger qbs. People easily forget his 2017 season.

Yeah, I don't know what's up with that, honestly. That could make for a good Buffalo News investigative report.

Agreed; should have been caught.

And again: Hogan: https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/buffalo-bills-chris-hogan-wrist-injury-torn-ligaments-010616 Woods: http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/23231/bills-robert-woods-played-14-games-with-torn-groin None of this was reported.

Chris Hogan and Robert Woods said pretty much EXACTLY the same thing after the 2015 seasons. Nothing happened. Also, I know it's really, really fashionable on this board to dismiss PFF completely (and believe me, I have my issues with them), but their analyses aren't entirely worthless, as so many seem to believe here. There is a reason that McDermott and Beane re-upped Hughes a couple of years ago. He was a genuinely excellent player in 2017.

This is so wrong. He is an elite pressure guy and the grades show it year over year. He has been disruptive his whole career with the Bills. To wit: https://www.buffalobills.com/news/jerry-hughes-led-bills-defensive-front-to-top-10-pff-ranking

LOL re the investigation. Chris Hogan played 2015 with torn ligaments in his wrist. Never reported. Robert Woods played 2015 with a torn thigh muscle (quad/hamstring; can't recall). Never reported. https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/buffalo-bills-chris-hogan-wrist-injury-torn-ligaments-010616

So you're saying it's kinda like the Tyrod/Zay Jones play vs Carolina, but in the reverse -- where Tyrod saw the easy TD and adjusted appropriately, but the stumbling Jones continued on the out route (to about the 3 yard line) despite the fact that the EZ was wide open and would have ended the game in the Bills' favor.

yeah, I know. i made a mistake.

I agree, but isn't this the best receiver class in many years? Take the highest graded player, and if there's a tie between the WR and DE, take the WR. As I said above, I don't even think the logic applies in this scenario given the great WR talent in this draft.

Good points; the afc east (6 games!), though, doesn’t feature any such qbs. Not saying it’s not important, but the first thing a coach and gm have to do is build a team to win the divisional games. i was also referring to PFR’s AV rating, which is a bit of a mystery to me. That said, their sister site, baseball-reference, developed B-WAR, and it is awesome. I love that suite of sites. Best thing on the internet for sports fans.

None of the analytics sites actually support this. All have Murphy as the more productive player. While I have my issues with those sites and treat them with a grain of salt, the fact of the matter is that Murphy started every game while Lawson started none, and he played more snaps. Did the coaches make the right decision? I don't know, but I have a hunch that while they obviously want to stop the run, they recognize that a good pass defense is simply more important than a good run defense in today's NFL. The Bills' defense prevented points because its pass D was so good. Murphy, regardless of sack totals, was a disruptive player on pass downs all season long.

Fair point, and thanks. I really do think Murphy had a good game overall (2 sacks and a lot of pressure), and my one rejoinder to your point is that it was an RPO play and the Houston run game was starting to gash the Bills. He bit on the run, which was understandable. Look -- at the end of the day, everyone on that defense, which had played so well through the first Houston series of the second half, did something wrong in the second half/OT. As to your larger point, one is under contract and one isn't. And I suspect Lawson's deal is going to be bigger than Murphy's.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Chrissake PS - Here's the OED entry: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/32426?redirectedFrom=chrissake#eid Chris(s)ake, n. Etymology: Shortened < Christ's sake. colloq. ‘Christ's sake’, used in oaths, etc. Usually preceded by for. 1933 E. Hemingway Winner take Nothing (1934) 199 ‘Oh for Chrisake,’ the detective sergeant said. 1943 P. Cheyney You can always Duck vi. 96 ‘For chrissake!’ he says. ‘What do you mean?’ 1951 J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye iii. 28 For Chrissake, grow up. 1953 W. R. Burnett Vanity Row ii. 18 Chrissake, can't she sit up here? 1954 M. Procter Hell is City iii. xv. 143 For Chrissake gimme a cigarette.

I buy that about the frame (as does this profile - https://www.nfl.com/prospects/denzel-ward?id=32195741-5214-6753-6b71-7e5e98188e98), but I just wanted to stress that 5'11" is considered a perfectly fine height for CBs. They can't be too tall, of course. 6'1" seems to be about the height limit before you hit diminishing returns.

5'11" isn't small for a CB.

He was bad against NE and has a lifetime TD/INT ratio of 10/21. That is simply terrible.

5'11" / 190 isn't small for a CB. Tre White is listed at 5'11" / 192 pounds - the same, basically.

Denzel Ward is a good and highly talented player, no?